Egypt
by Safest time of the Day
Summary: After the death of her husband, B is sucked back into the world of vampires, while trying to solve the mystery of her husband's death and finding years lost love. Will E be able to keep her safe while she unravals the mystery, or will they die together?
1. Cursed Anniversary

**Disclaimer: You know she owns it. **

**This is a little stab at a story line that popped into my head this morning. I couldn't sleep and was stuck watching history international. So here it goes. Leave me some feedback and let me know if I should continue it. **

**Chapter One: Cursed Anniversary **

Egypt was a place of wonder and mystery. The sand was soft as the beaches in Florida where my mother lived, so fine and if you weren't careful it got into everything. But the sun was hot and beautiful. Some days I sat in the shade of the pyramid that my husband David was excavating, and watched the rays shimmer off that fine sand for hours.

I met David while I was in college in Seattle, Washington. I was studying Early English literature and he was studying Archaeology and early Egyptian Civilization. At first I couldn't even bare to look at him much less even think about the date that he proposed every time he saw me, but eventually I let him in. And it took a good three years for us to be married. As I sat here in a restaurant in Cairo, I was in wonder that it had been a year already.

It was a good thing that he did what he did because it allowed me to run from my demons, to pretend that my life had always included David. To forget that year and a half in my life that haunted my dreams, even to this day. The ghosts as I had come to call them. The figment of my imagination that followed me no matter how fast or far I ran. I couldn't even bring my self to say the name, and as God was my witness it would never pass my lips again.

But David was a good man. He was handsome, but not beautiful like the one ghost. He was safe unlike that one ghost, and he was perfectly happy with what I had to offer him, I was good enough, unlike the one ghost.

It wasn't that I didn't love David. I did. I promised to love and honor and all of that good stuff that went with vows of marriage. But my soul didn't belong to him. It belonged to my ghost, and even though he didn't know of my ghost, he still understood my distance at points.

But I did try. I even went so far as to get married on the anniversary of the fateful day in September. I wanted to take the worst day of my life and turn it into something grand and powerful. I wanted to give it meaning and profound. I wanted to forget. But all it did was make me feel like I betrayed my ghost. I cried all the way up till the time to walk down the isle. I cried after my new husband fell into a deep sleep after making love for the first time. Hell I even cried during the sex because I was giving away something that belonged to my ghost. Of course David thought that I was crying because it hurt and that made me cry harder because he was trying to be sweet about it.

After the wedding we still had about six months of school left and as soon as we graduated David got a job at the Seattle Museum of History and since then he has become the Assistant Curator. I guess that happens when you graduate top of your class with honors.

Me on the other hand, decided to try my hand at writing. When he got the job in Egypt it was no sweat off my back to go with him. I could write anywhere, and Egypt was one the places in the world that my ghost couldn't go. Not that he would, but it gave me peace of mind, kind of.

We had only been here a couple of months when David was called away to the desert to excavate a new cavern that was found next to the great sphinx. They needed his expertise to translate the hieroglyphs and his know how with the Egyptian government. So I had been here in Cairo for about three weeks by myself.

From time to time I would write, and other time I would study. When you have a husband that is a passionate as David was, you tended to want to know what all the hype was about. Plus in the fact, I thought that I could cash in on the Mystery Novel world, so I needed to know all that I could. It came to a surprise that I picked up on it a lot faster then most people and I could even decipher most of the ancient text as good as David.

Sometimes I would travel out to the old tombs with the tourists just to hewn my skills. Even snickering at the miss translations of the tour guides that were born in this country and never thought to study what they were selling. Of course, me being me I never said anything, I just read them for myself and moved on, knowing that the deadly curse that the tour guide translated was actually something like was a good husband and father. Who was I to kill their bread and butter? Impending death sells.

I looked down at my Sat phone for the fifth time in fifteen minutes. "Damn." I cursed silently to my self. David was supposed to call me today. I couldn't talk to him everyday, but today was special. Today was our anniversary. One year today we were married, and six years today my ghost became a ghost. If anything I needed to talk to him just so that I could be put in a semi calm state of mind for the rest of the day. But he was supposed to call an hour ago, and Usually he was on time, so what was keeping him?

I glanced down at my phone again trying to look as nonchalant as possible. I could just imagine what the locals thought about the crazy woman that kept looking at her phone. I must have looked desperate as hell.

Truth be told I was. Desperate that is, not crazy. I needed this little piece of normality. I needed him to call so that I knew not only that he remembered but that I was important enough to be remembered. If I didn't have that I would be on the verge of relapse, and my ghost would be brought to the forefront of my mind. My ghost would grab hold of my in a choking hold and I would be sent spiraling down never to reemerge as myself again. I could lose who I had become, and I had work so hard to become this person.

"Miss, would you like some more coffee?" The barista asked with a very heavy Egyptian accent.

I looked down at the cup that I had ordered about thirty minutes ago. It was untouched and cold. I looked up to the weathered old man and smiled, "Yes please, and could you take this one away?"

The man removed my cooled drink and left to go fill my order. I didn't used to be a coffee drinker but after everything that happened to me, I found that I had to reinvent myself. I started doing things that the old Bella Swan wouldn't do, like riding motorcycles and strutting the streets looking like I hadn't a care in the world. I started drinking caffeinated beverages even though for the first few months my body went into overdrive and I would get the shakes like I was a drug fiend.

I started taking self defense classes and even started taking dance classes. Then after I graduated I was accepted to Washington University so I moved. I cut all contact with anyone that I knew in Forks and even changed my nickname to Issa. Bella died the day my ghost walked out of my life. I was something new.

The Barista returned with my coffee and set it in front of me but didn't leave. He was standing there looking intently at me. "I'm sorry, I don't need anything at the moment." I told him, still trying to decipher the look that he was inflicting on me.

"Miss, I was told to give you this." He said before sliding a folded piece of paper on the table in front of me and hurrying to the other side of the restaurant.

I'm sure that my face showed just how confused that I was. Who had written me a note? I really didn't know anyone here, and nobody knew that I was coming to this particular restaurant. He must have been mistaken. But the look on his face was so sure. And then there was something else. Maybe fear?

I opened the note and my blood ran cold. Six words flashed at me, and might as well have been a neon sign.

_Bella,_

_I'm sorry for your loss._

_MABC_

MABC? I didn't know anyone with those initials. And what loss were they talking about? I scanned the restaurant looking for the person that sent this message to me. The restaurant was mostly empty, and the people that were there were engulfed in their own conversations. No one was paying me any attention.

I looked out onto the street and scanned the crowds that pasted by on a daily basis. They moved like cattle, some slow some fast, some going one direction and some the other but none of them looking at me.

I was unnerved not only y the note but by the fact that this person knew me. They knew me as Bella, not Issa. That means they knew me before my change. That's what got my blood pumping and my heart pounding.

I looked out on the street harder, and I spotted what I was looking for. A small woman wearing a black Abuja, full with Muslim veil to cover her face. Her hands adorned black gloves and her feet were covered. This was nothing new to me, Islam is the second largest faith in the world. They were all over Egypt and so that was common enough.

What got me was her eyes. They were piercing and sad as they looked straight into mind. They were soulful, and they were eyes that I had looked into many times before in the past, because they were golden like my ghost.

I wasn't sure how long I stared at her and she back at me, it could have been hours with the intensity, but it was probably just second. My mouth was dry and my mind blank. My fingers had instinctively curled into tight fists beside my coffee cup. My whole body was rigid, and if I had sat there like that for much longer I would have been sore with the strain.

Before I could whisper her name my sat phone began ringing. I looked down at it for a split second but when I looked up she was gone. I scanned the crowd again but she was gone. All the while my phone continued to ring and ring.

I smirked to my self. Had I made up the image of Alice in full veiled get up because of the day? We my mind slipping already? I shook my head and whispered, "Ghosts." I picked up my phone looking at the display.

The number across the phone was not one that I had ever seen before. Nobody had my sat number but my husband and my publisher back in the states. Maybe David had let his phone die and was using one of his colleagues phone to wish my a happy anniversary.

"Hello." I said.

The voice on the other end was not my husband. The voice was heavily accented, "Mrs. Daily?"

"Yes." I said hesitantly.

"This is Detective Massri. I'm sorry to be calling you like this but you weren't at your… how you say… apartment. I needed to send a car to pick you up." He said very business like.

"I'm sorry what is this about?" For the second time today I was confused. What could the Egyptian Police want with me?

"Yes Mrs. Daily, I need for you to come to the consulate, there has been an accident with you husband Mr. Daily."

I sat straight up in my chair and my heart caught in my throat. "Accident? What kind of accident? Is David okay?" The questions were coming out like a whisper, my throat felt like it was closing up on it's self.

"No Mrs. Daily. I'm sorry… I didn't want to tell you this over the phone… but your husband died last night in a cave in, at his dig sight." He sounded regretful, and guilty for having delivered this news to me the way he had.

"What?" The news still wasn't sinking in. My mind couldn't process it. Not on this day. Not on the day that a curse and blessing had happened to me. This couldn't be happening. "Is this some kind of joke?" I could hear the hysteria and hopefulness in my voice. I swear if I was being punked, I was going to kick Aston's ass till he tasted the brand of my shoe.

"I assure you Mrs. Daily, I would never joke on something so serious." He said with no hint of amusement in his voice. "Please tell me where you are and I will send the car to collect you."

"I'm not far from my place. I'll meet the car there." I said. There was coldness to my words. All emotion was gone. I had nothing left.

"Okay we will be waiting for you." He said and disconnected the call.

I sat in my seat for a few moments trying to remember how to walk. Shit I was trying to remember how to breath. My eyes fell on the neon sign of a note staring back at me, over and over the sentence taunting me. _I'm sorry for you loss._

The tears threatened to fill my eyes and I blinked rapidly to stop them from falling. I felt the sob forming in my throat and swallowed it hard like a sour pill. I couldn't let them go. I had to see the detective. But one thing did escape, one of my ghosts come to light, "Alice" I whispered before grabbing my things and walking out into the hot Egyptian sun.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Are you sure that there is no one else that can do this for you?" Detective Massri asked for the seventh time sine we got to the run down morgue in the run down hospital.

I hated that David's body had been brought here. He deserved a state of the art morgue. I wasn't sure where this line of thought came from but it was how my mind was dealing. I had been asked by the Egyptian equivalent of a commissioner if I would identify the bodies of my husband and his assistant. Red tape and all to make sure there wasn't a terrible mistake. I had agreed without thinking. And now I really wanted to chicken out. But that was Bella not me. I would be brave for my husband because that's what he knew of me.

"Yes detective, I'm sure. I wish you would stop asking me that." I knew that I was snapping at him and it wasn't his fault per say, but proximity was a real mother some times.

He nodded and walked in front of me silently. It's funny what you notice during a time of crisis in you life. Like the fact that the detective's shoes squeaked with every step he took. That would be forever etched in my mind. The fact that this hospital smelled different then the hospitals that I had been in before, that also was a thought that would be in my mind forever. But I followed Mr. Squeaky Shoes to a set of double doors at the end of the sea green hallway.

He didn't hesitate when we got to the doors, but I did. Again I couldn't remember how to breath. My heart was pounding in my throat, and ears. I felt that I might pass out at any moment.

This couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream. My husband was safe, he just forgot our anniversary and he was hiding from me. I would have forgiven him if had just called. I wasn't at the morgue in Cairo about to ID his body. This was mistake.

My mind kept trying to talk me out of making the last steps into that room where the end of my world lay cold and dead. I even tried promising God that if he just let this all be a mistake I would sleep through this day for the rest of my life. I would bury my ghost in a dreamless haze and move my anniversary to another day. But even that didn't work.

I took a deep needed breath, to clear my head as much as it could be and made the last steps past the threshold to the morgue. The room was very clinical. The walls were stainless steel, the floors were polished concrete. There were all kinds of contraptions hanging from the ceiling, things that I didn't even want to know what they were for, for sanity sake.

The detective was standing by two gurneys that were draped with white sheets. The drapes fell over the gurneys in the shapes of bodies. My mind made note of how white the drapes were. At lease there's no blood, I don't do well with blood. Of course I had never seen a dead body so I wasn't sure how I was going to do with those, but hey, goal for no blood.

"Are you ready?" He asked as I stood by his side for the first body to be uncovered.

I nodded and he lowered the drape to chest level and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. The body laying on the first gurney was Stan, David's assistant. What shocked me was that fact that his throat was a mangled area of what looked like hamburger meat.

I gasped and before I knew it I had backed into the other gurney. I spun around as the drape slipped to show the handsome face of my husband David, with his throat in the same state as Stan's.

I covered my mouth and ran to a nearby sink and vomited violently. Everything that was in my system came up with a burning sensation from the bile that was left and came through my nose.

Detective Massri waited patiently for me to gather myself. When I turned both bodies were covered up as they were when we walked in.

"What… what did that to them?" I asked. It was the first question that came to mind.

"It must have happened during the cave in." He said. His eyes were hard. I could only imagine that this was the part of the job that he hated. It made me wonder if he was asking me if I wanted to view the bodies for his own benefit. "Are they your husband and his assistant?"

I nodded not trusting that I wouldn't start dry heaving. I pushed up off the floor, I hadn't even noticed that I had slump to it, and made my way to the double doors. I needed fresh air right away. The detective was right behind me.

"Excuse me, Detective Massri? May I speak with you?" A small man with graying hair asked as we passed the doors into the hall.

"Mrs. Daily, this is the coroner. If you just wait down the hall I'll arrange a car to take you home." I turned and started walking, but something in their conversation caught my attention.

"… lack of blood… teeth marks… cave in after death." I continued my trek down the hall.

My mind was working over time. Alice had been there in the street today. There had to be something up. Because there was no way my husband was killed by a cave in. The only thing that could have caused those exact wounds was for someone to rip out their throats. The only reason to do that and then cause a cave in was to hide something. And the only thing to hide was a murder.

The only reason that Alice would come out of hiding was one thing. Vampires had killed my husband, and his assistant. Somehow my innate ability to attract danger had reigned terror on a unsuspecting man who had wanted nothing more then to love me. When I had allowed him that one emotion I had doomed him to the horrible death.

I wrapped my arms around my middle like I had done during the months I had gone crazy after my ghost left. I was trying desperately, to hold myself together. I had to wait till I was in the comfort of my own home to fall apart. I would wait till there was four comfortable walls, familiar walls to let go and mourn the loss of the husband that had loved me without condition.

"Mrs. Daily?" Detective Massri was standing besides me with a look of concern on his face.

"Issa, please. You have seen me vomit all my insides up I think that is basis to call my Issa." I told his trying to manage a small smile.

"Fine then my name is Omar. Are you ready to go home Issa?" He asked offering me a reassuring smile in return.

"When are they releasing the bodies? I would like to start making arrangements as soon as possible." I asked as we finally made it out to the warm dry air of the Egyptian night.

"I'm sorry Issa, There are some discrepancies with the deaths and I'm sorry. We had to open a murder inquiry." Omar said.

"Murder?" I feigned shock. I knew that this was coming. I knew that this wasn't open shut. "I thought you said they were killed by a cave in." I nearly choked on the word 'killed'.

"Yes well it's just a formality. As soon as the inquiry is finished we can help you make arrangements to transport the bodies." HE was glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes. He was lying, and he was worse at it then I was. But I went along with it.

I sighed dramatically and gave him my best innocent look, "I understand." I looked at the car that waited for us at the curb in front of the hospital. "Are you going to come with me to drop me off at the apartment?" I asked.

"No I need to do some paper work, and finish some odds and ends. Please keep you phone on, so as I might contact you as soon as we have some news." He said finally looking directly at me.

I nodded and got into the car and stared out the window at nothing at all. My mind was just at a point of break down, and thinking about nothing was helping to save off the impending spiral that I was headed. Before I knew it I was in front of my apartment.

As I got out of the car I looked at the dark windows that used to be so warm ad welcoming. Now they were cold and foreboding, warning that none shall enter because happiness no longer resided there.

I walked up the stairs to my door and noticed a package waiting on the right side of the door. I picked it up not even looking at postmark. David received packages all the time from Seattle, this would be the last.

I slide my key into the lock and entered my apartment. It was almost ten o'clock at night. This awful day was almost over, just to open up to hard core mourning tomorrow. I dropped the keys in the bowl by the door. I could feel the sobs starting to bubble up in my chest. I wanted nothing more then to scream at the top of my lungs, but my throat felt parched and scratchy like I had already done that.

I heard far away whimpering. I thought, why is that person crying, I'm the one that lost her husband. But then I realized that it was me. I was whimpering. That knowledge brought the tears and I collapsed in a heap on the floor just inside the front door.

I was alone. I was broken again. I needed something. So I took a chance and whispered, "If you're here please… I… I need you." The anguish that followed was heartbreaking even to me. The sobs stole my breath and strangled me.

Two strong cold marble arms wrapped around me. I sagged into the embrace finding comfort in the fact that I wasn't alone. I cried harder and moaned in my misery.

His smell was the same. My ghost was here to comfort me in my time of need. "Okay love. I'm here." Was the last thing I heard before exertion over took me and I passed out.


	2. The Dream

**Disclaimer: She owns it, not me.**

**Chapter Two: The Dream**

_As I walked through the desert, sun warmed my skin. I was wearing a flowing white dress and no shoes. The sand slid through my toes feeling soft and hot, but not uncomfortable. I wasn't sure how long I had walked, or how I had gotten here in the first place, but as I crossed another dune my breath was taken away by the magnificent sight of the Great Sphinx. _

_It was majestic to behold in the sun, just the sheer size was unconceivable. Its great paws stretched out in front of it awaiting an embrace that would never come. At the same time it beckoned you in, telling you it was okay, that it would protect you from all, safety was what it offered._

_Its head looking out for eternity, keeping watch over the desert. Through storms and wars it never wavered its sight never blinded. The cool stone alive in a way that made you think that it watched your every move and if you step out of line you were doomed to unimaginable fates that man could not comprehend. _

_The body of a cat was disproportionate to the head that it wore, but this wouldn't make it less perfect. The lion part screamed to be stoked, but at the same time, was poised to attack. The beast part was both deadly and serine at the same time. Dangerous and protective without overwhelming the senses of the innocent. _

_Overhead a hawk flew high in the sky, screeching at its prey as the wind passed under its large wings, and I couldn't help but think what it would be like to cover the world with everything underneath me. Soaring so high that the wind was my only companion. The beauty of the thought almost brought tears to my eyes. _

_I knew where I was going now. I was going to see David. I had missed him so much that I came here to see him. I was no longer content with waiting. I would find a place to help him in his work, so that we could be together. _

"_David." I called out. "David, are you there?"_

"_Issa?" He appeared out of a dug out cavern beneath the breast of the great beast. "Issa, what are you doing here?" He was covered in dust and dirt and grim, but he was still as handsome as I had ever seen him. His dark hair was slicked back from the sweat, but his blue eyes sparkled at the sight of me. _

"_I missed you and I thought I could help some." I looked around trying to see behind him. "Where's Stan?" I asked. Usually Stan was right on David's heels with a notebook and a pen in hand._

_Something passed behind David's eyes but it was gone before I could place it. "Oh… He's around." He said with a shrug. "Well, since you're here let my show you the sight." He held out his hand and I hesitated for a moment. _

_David seemed different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something. His appearance was the same. He carried himself just the way he always had. Even his voice was the same, but there was something off. _

_I shrugged off my neurosis and grabbed his hand. "That would be nice." A smile lit his face, but again there was something in his eyes. I gave him a small smile back, and we moved through to the cavern that he had just come out of moments before. _

_The cavern had been dug with great precision, but when you first walked down into it there were rigid edges for about a foot in. It was apparent that stone had been chiseled and blasted to enter the antechamber. _

_After that initial foot, the stone was smooth and almost polished. There was painting on the wall, in blues and yellows, reds and gold. This passage had been lost to time. Nothing had touched it for thousands of years. Even sand storms of the region had missed this beauty._

_There were glyphs on the walls, but David was pulling me down the passage so fast that I couldn't decipher them. He looked like he was excited about something and the fact that I was there made everything more perfect. "Where are we going?" I asked._

"_You'll see it and everything will make sense." He said. _

_Cryptic much? But I shrugged it off and let him pull me further underneath the sphinx. The air around us was cool and somewhat stale, but not unpleasant. Truthfully, the only thing that bothered me was my feet. There were pebbles on the ground, and even though they were rounded and smooth, they were still uncomfortable to walk on. _

_David seemed like he was in his own world. "Did you know that the Ancient Egyptians believed in immortality? They thought that the Pharaohs were gods and lived on forever." The suddenness of this conversation startled me at first but he went on. "This room," he said as we entered an expansive room with high ceilings and burning torches along the round walls. "was a room that they kept for what they called the kiss of immortal life." _

_The room's walls were covered in glyphs and paintings of pale Egyptians. These were different then anything I had ever seen. The pale Egyptians were of inhuman beauty. They were tall and had hair of all colors. Instantly I knew what they were. The ancient Egyptians knew of vampires. _

_In the middle of the room was a table that was about waist high, and a throne that sat right next to it. The table looked to be made of marble or lime, but the throne was made of gold. It was adorn with small golden figurines and elaborate vines. In some parts of it the gold had been stained green. Other than that - the chamber was empty._

_David stood in the middle of the room looking directly at me, that same look still behind his eyes. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. "The priests would bring the dying Pharaoh here and place him on this table, and bring in seven virgins for sacrifice. The gods Osiris the god of the underworld and Horus the patron saint of the existing pharaoh would take human form. They would all be locked here for seven days, one day for each sacrifice. When the priests returned all the virgins would be dead and the Pharaoh would be ready for mummification, and to start his trek into immortality."_

_All too quickly things changed. The torches started going out one by one. I followed the diminishing light as they went out and suddenly there was only one left. David was instantly in front of me, gripping my shoulders tightly. "But they never came back did they Issa?" He fumed._

"_What?" I asked dumbly. He was starting to hurt me._

"_You knew about them and you didn't tell me!" He yelled shaking me hard. My head launched back and fourth, and the room started spinning. _

"_David… Your…your hurting me!" I begged. _

_He laughed in my face and began dragging me towards the stone table. Before I knew what was happening, I was pinned underneath him and he had straddled my body so that I couldn't get away. "You should have told me. I could have lived." He seethed._

_The look that had been hidden came to the forefront of his eyes and I recognized it instantly. It was hate and anger. "No David I couldn't tell you." I pleaded for him to understand, but his grip just got tighter on my arms. "Please baby, you're hurting me!" I begged._

_He lifted me up by his hold on my shoulders and slammed me brutally back down on the stone. The shock that radiated through my shoulders, neck, and back of my head made my eyes close, and a waive of nausea passed through my body. I felt wetness hit my face. And I knew that it wasn't tears. It was to thick._

_I opened my eyes and instantly saw the front of my dress was slowly turning from white to red. More fluid was on my face and I instantly knew what it was. I fought to look up and meet David's eyes. What I was met with tore a strangled cry from my lips. _

_David's eyes were cloudy and contained no life. His throat was torn out as it had been in the morgue and his blood was pouring out onto me. "Let.. me …give … you … a … kiss." His voice was a whistle as he tried to pronounce the words with out the use of a throat. It was raspy like you would imagine from the long dead. _

"_no. No. NO!" The words got louder as he got closer, and I fought against him in earnest. Struggling against his iron grip, and making no head way in the process. I was only managing to hurt myself in the process._

"_Bella." He rasped. "Bella." His voice was changing. "BELLA!" David had never called me Bella._

"DAVID!" I screamed as I sat straight up in my bed fighting still against invisible attackers, and sheets that held me captive. A loud sob bubbled up from what seemed my very soul and I wailed in the agony that I felt. My head shook back and forth with the denial that I held for my sanity sake.

This wasn't my fault. This was all coincidence. David's death had nothing to do with me. It was just a set of unfortunate circumstances.

"Bella?" I hadn't realized my eyes were shut. The velvet voice assaulted my senses. I decided that clamping my eyes tighter to avoid what could only be my imagination calling my name. I noticed that I was shaking my head for a different reason. I was trying to shake off my mind's way of dealing with my husband's death.

Conjuring my ghost was not even close to the way to deal with it. "Bella please look at me." His voice was gentle and commanding at the same time. It reminded me of the times I would do self destructive things just to hear him, years ago. I couldn't help but snort out a laugh at the current set of circumstances that brought my ghost back in my time of need.

That was until I felt a pair of cool stone arms wrap around my shoulders. His smell was intoxicating; my thoughts of him had never been this vivid. I could feel his cold breath on my neck, which meant that he was closer then I originally thought.

I felt his hand cup my face and tilt my head towards the source of his scent. I decided that it was time to take a chance. After all that was my new mantra, taking chances. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to the most glorious and blinding sight I had ever beheld. Well at least in the last six years that is.

My ghost sat not even two inches from me, with concern etched in his beautiful face. Six years had not marred the intense beauty that was his essence. I still couldn't say the name, even in my mind. Some wounds needed to remain closed. To tell you the truth I wasn't sure how I would handle it, and I was unwilling to try at that particular moment. But damn was he gorgeous, my ghost.

"Bella, what can I do?" HE asked.

That was a great question. What could he do? I was vaguely aware of the tears that were still streaming down my face. I cursed them for blurring my vision and distorting the Adonis that sat next to me.

I shook my head in response to his question. I didn't trust my voice not to squeak in his presence. He was just so… words failed me at that point but my traitorous blush filled my cheeks. I hadn't truly blushed in for ever, what the hell.

He looked so sad, helpless and I wanted do what ever was possible to make him better. Shit I wanted to do what ever was possible to make me better. But I had a better question, "What are you doing here?" My voice was stronger then I thought it was.

"You needed me." He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. He said it like it was a 'ask and ye shall receive' type of thing. He even shrugged. Cocky bastard.

I was about to ask where he had been for the last six years, especially the initial eight months when I needed him the most, when a huge crash came from the direction of the kitchen.

"Sorry, my bad." A voice that could only be attributed to Emmett called out. "Pan slipped."

"Pan… slipped?" I looked at my ghost in question.

"Well you didn't really eat anything yesterday so Emmett thought that he would make you breakfast." An apologetic look crossed his face. "He's been in there for two hours and one of them was trying to learn how to turn on the stove."

That got my attention. I shot out of bed fast enough to give me a head rush. I noticed that I was wearing pajamas. Another blush crept into my cheeks thinking about who had undressed and redressed me. "Alice." My ghost said.

"Alice." I said I padded out into the common room that led into the kitchen to find Emmett and Jasper arguing in whispers. "What the hell is flour?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know but the book says that you need some." Jasper countered.

"Well… go pick some up and bring it back. We will put it in and then stir in the eggs." Emmett said forming a plan.

"I already put in the eggs, three of them." Jasper said looking into the bowl. "I'm not sure that looks right."

I glanced at the bowl and spotted three full eggs sitting there in a pool of oil. Shell and all, not even cracked. At that point I decided to an intervention was in order. Who the hell told vampires that can't eat human food that they could cook?

"Um, guys?" I said timidly. At first they ignored me. "Guys!" I said with more force, but still they bickered back and fourth. Then I pulled out a genetic trait that I got from Charlie. I place two fingers in my mouth and blew. A loud whistle sounded through the small area and I had three pairs of golden eyes fall on me. "GUYS!" I yelled.

I finally had all of their attention. Then it occurred to me that I had all their attention and I blushed deeply. What was it about these vampires that sent me back to being a seventeen year old girl? "Thank you for the thought and everything." I said adding a sweep of my hand around the mess that was my kitchen. "But right now I think that the only thing that I could stomach is toast and coffee."

I looked at Emmett who was still holding a cook book that I had no idea where he got it from. He had a huge grin across his face, so big in fact that his dimples shown through. It was contagious and I felt my own smile spread in return.

"Bellie!" He held his arms wide and rushed over to me. His arms scooped me up in an almost bone crushing hug. "I missed you Bella, How the hell have you been?"

If I could have breathed I would have been able to answer in some sarcastic witty matter, but the fact was that I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. "Can't…Breath." I said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, sorry Bella" Emmett actually looked like the big kid that he was. He placed me back on the floor and rocked back and fourth on his heels.

"It's okay Emmett. I'm as good as can be expected, thanks for asking." I stroked his arm reassuringly and peaked around him.

In the corner, as far away as he could get, stood Jasper. He was looking sad and at the ground. I knew what he was thinking. I knew why he looked so guilty. I briefly wondered if he had been living with this for the last six years. Then I got my answer, he looked up and a jolt of guilt swept through the room.

I moved around Emmet and walk till I was about three feet from Jasper. He still refused to meet my eyes, his head shaking back and fourth. "Bella I'm…"

I held up my hand. "Stop. Don't you even try to apologize to me. There's nothing to forgive. I have never been angry with you. I understand what happened. I love you." I closed the distance and threw my arms around him. I felt him stiffen for a fraction of a second before he returned my embrace.

"Thank you." He sighed. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"Well…" I spun around and glared at my ghost," If I had a chance to talk to you six years ago I would have told you myself. It might have saved us both a lot of suffering."

"Hey he got an I love you." Emmett mock pouted.

"Aw Emmett what's not to love about you? You're the best big brother bear there could be." Emmett's chest poked out and swelled in pride and happiness.

"He turned to my ghost and clicked his tongue, "And none for you." He said like a parent scolding a child. I ignored their banter and walked over to the coffee pot. There was a a dark liquid in it but I wasn't sure if it was coffee, I mean it smelled like coffee, but it was a little… thick.

I turned to ask who had made the coffee but I was alone with My ghost. "I think they forgot the filter." I said offhandedly. I poured the sludge into the sink and started again.

While the coffee was dripping through I used the toaster and made my toast. After all was put together I leaned against the counter and chewed my toast half-heartedly, while sipping my coffee.

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" My ghost asked.

"Do you want to tell me why vampires attacked and killed my husband?" I countered.

He visibly flinched. I was sure if it was because of the word killed or if it was because of the word husband. But I couldn't understand either, or bring myself to care. "Look, what are you going to do?" I asked

"Do?" He asked puzzled.

"Yes… do. My husband was killed by vampires and I want to know what are you going to do?" He was acting as thick as the coffee that I just poured down the drain.

He walked over to the counter and started placing things in the sink. "Are you finished?" He asked pointing at my half eaten toast and half drank coffee. I nodded and he placed them in the sink with everything else. It occurred to me that he was avoiding.

"Why are you avoiding my question?" I asked narrowing my eyes at him.

"I'm not avoiding your question Bella. I'm simply not going to answer it." He said giving me his most innocent look.

"What? So you're just going to leave me in the dark? Glad to see nothing has changed with you Ed…" I stop myself from saying his name to prevent the fissure from erupting in my chest. Still he stood there slowly washing dishes not looking at me and then it stuck me, "You're not going to do anything." It wasn't a question because I knew it to be the truth.

"No we're not." He confirmed. "We are here to save you."

I could feel the tears prickling behind my eyes. I was hurt and angry. How could this family, that I had considered my family all those years ago, claim to reviver human life and let my husband be assonated with out prejudice. Was he really saying that my life meant more than David's?

"The vampires in question were protecting our anonymity. David was too close to uncovering us, and revealing us to the world." He said searching my eyes for understanding. What he found I was sure he didn't like.

"Your telling me that it was justified that my husband got his _throat_ torn out. You're telling me that you and the family condone this kind of behavior?" My anger was rising and it was mixed in with the grief. It was easier to hate him because he was in front of me. "I guess I really didn't know you at all. Get out of my home, now." My voice was calm and level, but there was an underlying acid to it that I didn't even know that I was capable of.

My ghost moved to embrace me and that was when all the flood gated open and names and memories that I had been holding at bay came forward. "DON'T TOUCH ME EDWARD!" I screeched. "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

He shrank back like I had struck him. I took a deep breath and went on, "I guess you really are the monster that you always said you were." Again my voice was level again. "Just leave, I'll figure it out on my own." And with that I left the kitchen and locked myself back in my room to wallow in my self pity. Then after that I needed to come up with a plan.

The dream that I had was brought to the fore front. Could I have told David about vampires? Would he have believed me? Was it my fault that he was gone? There were so many questions and not enough answers. The place to start would be the dig sight. I also needed to get in touch with Detective Massri, and see if there were any new developments.

I knew that there wouldn't be, but I really needed to get David and Stan back to the US to have a proper burial. I couldn't help but think there was more to this then just trying to keep vampires secrets, I needed to find out what it was. Yes I might die in the process but I've been half dead for the last six years anyway. My life with David had brought me back from the oasis, It defiantly did not suck, and he deserved better then he got.

I reached for my sat phone and dialed the number I had been dreading. I waited as the other line rang and rang. A very cheerful voice answered the other line. She was soft spoken but the happiness radiated to me, "Hello." You could hear the smile on her lips. I choked up inside. This was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do, "Mrs. Daily? It's Issa. I have some very bad news."


	3. Steele Fate

**A/N: She owns it, not me.**

**I want to send out a special thanks to Billie, Nan, and my husband, because without them I would have no inspiration. As some of you might know I'm pregnant, actually surrogating for my best friend. Recently there have been some complications and I'm stuck in bed till further notice. I'm not sure how often I will be able to update but your prayers are always welcome. **

**Chapter Three: Steele Fate**

Over the next three days I did little. I walk around the apartment in a daze struggling to come up with the best way to find out what the hell was going on. How was I suppose to go about uncovering the answers that had plagued my dreams every night, until I decided that sleep was a crutch and coffee was a gift from heaven.

I had not seen anyone in that time frame. Edward and the rest were gone as I had requested, but I could feel them close by. They were watching me, and if I was being totally honest with myself, I was sure it was more him than them.

Over and over in my mind, I replayed what he had said. He was there to protect me. The first question that had entered my mind was why? All those years ago he left without even a forwarding address. He said that he didn't love me anymore and that I didn't belong in his world.

That statement in itself sent me into a three hour rant. If I wasn't to be part of his world then why did his world keep finding me and the people that I cared for? Obviously, I was part of his world and had been for a long while. First him and his family, then James, and then Jake - What the hell was there no getting away from it?

Now somebody was dead. Two somebody's to be exact, David and Stan. This was more real then I cared to think about. The only thing that I could come up with was that Edward had been wrong. Somehow I was part of his world. I had always been and there was no stopping it. What was worst was that he left me to live with it by myself, to figure it out.

That lead me to my next question, why come to save me in the first place and from what? David had been killed at the dig sight. I was here in Cairo about a good four hour drive. How was I in danger? There was no link. David was very reluctant to tell me about the things that he had found, and I didn't push. What was my part in all this?

Whatever it was, it was enough to bring Edward and the family out into one of the sunniest places in the world to stop it from happening. Not to mention they were still here. What was coming? Was it here already? What could I do to protect myself? I was human and weak. James had told me that. There was no one to change that and in my anguish I wasn't sure if I wanted it to change.

Wasn't it Edward that said that an emotion for a vampire is strong and unchanging? I would hate to be stuck in mourning for all of eternity. That thought brought me to think about Esme. She had lost so much but had found happiness with Carlisle. She was warm and inviting, yet strong and determined. Her grief didn't follow her, I mean she still felt loss but it wasn't crippling.

By the end of that three day period I was ready to talk. I was ready to put everything out on the table and I was ready to get the answers that I needed to process what the hell was going on.

More than that, I needed to do something that was eating at me. "Edward… I'm so sorry for calling you a monster." I whispered.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity. The whole apartment was quiet and if he was there I wasn't sure if I would hear him approach anyway. "Edward…?" I called, but a sob threatened to leave me at the need in my voice. There it was the truth that I had been running from for six years. I needed him. No matter how much I tried to change and how many people I forced myself to love, Edward was it for me. The only being in the whole world that could make me feel okay.

"Edward I need you to tell me what is going on. I need to know why you came. I just…" Was I ready to say the words? Was I ready to give the power of me back over to him? "I just need you to hold me." With that last sentence I gave him me. With that declaration, his decision could make or break me. The ball was in his court. What ever he was going to do determined my life from this moment on.

I lowered my head into my hands and began to cry. I cried for David. So many years he had wasted on me and I was broken. He had no way of putting my back together, but I let him try. I cried for my current predicament. I cried for me. Bella Swan, not Isa Daily, because she was not me, I was still that scared seventeen year old girl in Forks.

I cried for Edward, because without him I was no one and he should not have to bare that cross. He shouldn't felt the need to carry my shit for all these years. I cried because at a point he did try to get away and still could not. "I'm so sorry for being so much trouble." I wrenched.

I smelled him before his arms were around me, lifting me off the couch and placing me in his lap. He cradled me against his chest and tucked my head under his chin, stoking my hair as I fought for the control that I needed to be able to stop my hysterics. He did what I asked he held me.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there, me in his embrace, but I finally calmed down enough to breathe deeply and have this conversation. "Edward… why did you leave me?" I wasn't sure why but at this point it was the one question that I needed to know the answer to. I needed to start at the beginning.

Edward never faltered in stroking my hair, and his arms never loosened. He took a deep breath and blew down his nose. "I wanted to protect you. What happened with Jasper was just one of a number of things that could have happened to endanger you, and I…" He stopped speaking and his head was shaking back and fourth, like the image in his head was too much to even visualize. "I couldn't live in a world without you in it. I thought by leaving you I could make sure that you were safe and still know that you were in this world somewhere, my one and only love." His words shocked me.

I sat up and looked into his face. What looked back at me was nothing but sincerity in cremate. He was telling me the truth. He was finally coming clean, but this lead to another question. "Edward do you still… are you still?" I blushed at the question that I was trying to ask.

But he knew already. "Yes my Bella I do and have always loved you. I told you the worst lie and for that I'm truly sorry."

He looked up and that's when it happened. I kissed him. I kissed him with all the loss and anger and relief and happiness that I had ever known in his presence. But what surprised me was that he kissed me back but it was more. His hands shot up into my hair and for the first time in our history he was holding me to him.

I felt his muscles under his shirt move fluidly under his granite skin and my core instantly begged for more. My mind screamed for more. Any other questions that I had were lost as my mind shorted out from the intensity of this kiss.

I was suddenly feeling something so familiar and natural, the humming electricity that seemed to be filling the room and drawing our bodies together. Our bodies seemed to be like magnets attached to each other. I couldn't get over how well my body molded to his hard granite one, it felt so natural, it felt like I was finally home.

I moaned in Edward's mouth with the intensity of our kiss which just seemed to ignite the flame between us more. He was gently but urgently ran is hands all over my body. He was remembering every one of my cures, and being older I had filled them out even better then in my gangly teenage years.

Edward seemed to enjoy my new changes especially when he ran his cool fingers over my supple breasts causing my nipples to become painfully taut under my lacy white bra.

I heard a soft growl while I was enjoying his god like body with my hands. I couldn't get enough of him my hands got tired of feeling his muscles under his t-shirt and without thinking I slid my hands under the hem of his shirt and moved them as quickly as I could to his chest, teasing his nipples. My body growing hotter with need and desire and feeling his cold body melt under my heated touch.

His growl became louder and he moved from my lips allowing me air to breath, moving to the small sweet spot under my ear. I was gasping. My body hummed and sang to the heavens. I was whole, my lost half was found.

I wanted more, I needed more, I wanted him so bad I could feel the heat in my core burning with such intensity it was almost unbearable. All I could think was he was going to stop soon. He had never been this uninhibited with me before and damn I was going to see how far I could get.

I need to feel him inside of me and I knew he could smell my desire, but I didn't care. I wanted to see his body, I missed it so much. I lifted his shirt over his head and just stared at him. Edward took his hands and placed them on both sides of my cheeks, god I was finally where I belonged.

He never broke his gaze, his eyes had turned darker almost onyx with need. "Bella I love you so much and have missed you more than you could imagine. I'm so sorry for hurting you," Then he smashed his lips to mine with all the passion in him.

My hands were all over his firm body, his muscles twitching with each caress. I parted my lips and was pleasantly surprised when my hot tongue met his cold one, it was nothing more than utterly erotic. I was in bliss, and then he broke away from me.

I whimpered with need and in the next instant he had my top and bra off. "Exquisite…" He murmured along my neck as he suddenly swept down to my perky pink nipple and flicked his tongue across it.

I nearly came undone, I arched my head back and moaned his name while he devoured my nipple and sucked on my breast. He paid just as much attention to the other one as I boldly moved my hand down to his thigh and worked my way up to the very hard firm bulge in his jeans.

Not wanting to give him any chance to stop me as we were both panting I began unzipping his jeans to free what I wanted to badly. I hardly had time to react when Edward picked me up and carried me to the bed without a second thought. At first when he moved I thought that he was stopping me. My mind told me that that was it. He knew what he was doing and he needed to stop. I almost cried with joy when I realized what was happening.

The electricity in the air and between us was unbearable as Edward looked at me with such desire. "Bella you are so beautiful, I want you more than anything."

"I need you", was my reply and with out hesitation his body was on top of mine. Oh, I couldn't seem to get enough of him. I was pushing his jeans and boxers down, I wanted to see him and he did not disappoint. He was next to me naked and fully erect and before long so was I.

The look in his eyes was one of carnal need. I had such a burning ache between my legs that I had to move them together to get some relief. I moved my hand to his erection and wrapped my fingers firmly around him and gently began stroking him.

Edwards head lolled back and his growl sounded almost like a moan. As I was busy with my ministrations of his body he had moved his hand to my thigh and was working his way to my heated core. He slid one finger inside of me and I came unglued.

It was like nothing I had felt before I moaned and spread my legs wider not wanting him to stop until he quenched the burn building as he slid another finger in side of me, a hiss of passion escaping my lips. He pumped me and stoked me and the electricity grew through out my body. I was smoldering and sparks felt like they shot through me fingers and toes.

He more he worked me, the faster I worked him. His erection grew harder if that was possible. The vein under his swollen cock was growing bigger and bigger. I knew he was close and I was teetering on the edge myself.

I couldn't pull in enough air. My breath was shallow with the pants and meows that came out of my chest. "Edward?"

"I know my Bella." He breathed. "Come with me" His teeth were clenched, and the muscles in his jaw jerked. His words pushed me over the edge and everything around my felt like it was on fire as the heat no longer pulsed through me body but ignited my soul. A sound came out of me that I had no idea that I owned. I had never felt this way and as I watched my ghost's eyes as he watched mine, I saw him come undone. He gave over to his orgasm and it was glorious. The control he still had but Edward had given the power to what ever force that was driving him.

"Please Edward I need to feel you inside of me."

"There is no place I would rather be right now Bella", he began kissing me again and moving his body so it was hovering just above me. His firm erection was near my entrance, teasing me. Within seconds his erection was firm and he was ready. I briefly thought that this could have possibilities, but I remembered that I soon would tire and the possibilities became bleak.

His lips left flames in their wake, as he showered my face and neck with his tongue and lips. Every cell in my body called to him. My soul cried out for redemption and answers. Where had this missing piece been?

Edward stopped and gazed down at me. His eyes were a molten onyx, but love shined through. "this is it, my Bella. This is the moment that we have been waiting years for." He lowered his hips and…

A loud and insistent banging resounded through my apartment. "Police open the door."

Edward jerked me to his chest, and the fear in his eyes was enough to send me into a panic. "What is it Edward?" I whispered.

"There here to arrest you." He growled out. "They think you had something to do with David's death."

"What?" I squeaked.

David. I hadn't even thought about him, and he just died a week ago. I was below scum. And now the Egyptian Police were here, and there was no stopping them.

"Get dressed Bella. I can't get you out of this right now. But…" He grabbed my chin and looked into my terrified eyes. "We will find out what's going on and solve this problem. Vampire community be damn."

I stood up and prepared myself for what was to come. Somehow I couldn't be afraid. I had the Cullens on my side, nothing could stop us.

**A/N: I put this story down for a very long time. I was disheartened by all a lot of your reviews concerning the reaction of Bella towards Edward. I do understand that there are a lot of die hard Edward lovers in the Twilight world (me being one of them), but lets be realistic. Edward left Bella for years, and then her husband is killed by vampires. Her life has revolved, and if your husband or boyfriend was killed you all can not tell me that you would not want revenge. **

**For Bella the only person that could help her wont. The fact the Edward choose Vampires over her small grasp on something normal, has hurt her. She is entitled to be angry and to lash out at the one person that told her no. And lets be honest, the one person that we lash out at is the person that we love the most. **

**All I'm asking is that if you want to leave a review and your angry at her please think about what your saying and why you feel that way. Is it because of your love for Edward and your need to protect him, or is it because you are the most sensible human being in the world and would never react that way? And if you still feel angry please do your blood pressure and me a favor and stop reading. **

**I love all my readers but I would hate to have you all feeling uncomfortable at anytime. **


	4. Up The River

**A/N: I don't own it, she does. **

**Hey guys. I felt pretty good today so I thought I would give you all a chapter. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers. Saying that I feel the love is an understatement. I wanted to also give a special thanks to ****Litany Gone, and MaraBenefici, and pretty much all of you that have been understanding of my author's note at the end of last chapter. Thanks guys you rock. So here we go. Chapter four.**

**Chapter Four:** **Up The River**

Have you ever watched those "jail abroad" shows? I felt like I was one of their features. In fact those shows looked tame compared to the shit I was going through right now.

As I was being escorted to the holding cells in a large building in the center of Cairo, there was a smell that rivaled public bathrooms at a fair. The kind that just made you want to vomit a little in your mouth, but these made you want to expel everything from your body at the same time and hope that it smelled better. It was a mixture of human excrement and sweat, alcohol and urine. It was like the walls were decaying all around me from the force of it all.

I walked down the corridor with two female guards at my sides and the sounds of the tortured were all around me. Moaning and cursing (in many languages), vomiting and hysterical laughing, even some sounds that made you wonder if it was only humans were kept down here.

When I first arrived I was taken to a huge shower where I was stripped down to nothing and showered with a fire hose. No soap just cold water. Then a women nurse (I hoped) that was the size of Emmett vulgarly and very slowly "checked" my girl parts. I think she even giggled when I whimpered and cried out. I had never felt so violated in my life.

After my check/rape, as I had come to call it, I was given a dingy white gown and a pair of flimsy flip flops, and then they walked me to my cell.

I wondered how long it would take the Edward and the rest of the family to get me out of here. I hoped that they would bust in these terrible walls and knock the whole place down in a blaze of glory. Saving not only me but the people that suffered in the travesty that they called the Egyptian judicial system.

Of course they wouldn't, the Cullens prided them selves on anonymity. Everything was done on the down low with them. But it was a good dream. My very white dark angel busting in with a show of strength and compassion, to rescue the damsel in distress, and boy was I in distress.

I was lead to a cell with thick bars and a lock the size of my head. It was a small cell about twelve by ten and it looked as if there were at least seventeen people already in there. Nosily they opened the door and shoved me in before slamming it shut and locking it back.

"If you misbehave there is a special room where the male guards visit often." One of the females sneered at me. "And you're just their type… female." They both laughed and left me in shock in the cell ready to pee on myself out of fear.

I found a semi clean and dry looking place on the floor and pulled my knees to my chest, and laid my cheek on my knees. I wouldn't cry until this was over but god I wanted to.

Instead I decided to rest. I kept my ears alert but closed my eyes and let Edward come to me. I remembered a time in my life that I would do anything to hear him. His voice beautiful voice trying to keep me from doing stupid things like motorcycles and jumping off of cliffs. But now I had more. Now I had the memory of his fingers moving inside me and the feel of his cock in my hand. I had the feel of his lips burning me with the cold passion that only he had, and my mind wonder to what it would have been like if we had not been interrupted. Before I knew it I had fallen asleep to the voice of Edward in my head telling me that he had always loved me.

I wasn't sure how long I had been there but I was awakened by the loud nose of a key being shoved into the lock of the cell and the squeak of the door opening. The guards said nothing, but grabbed me by my arms and yanked me into a standing position. I'm sure that my eyes were wide with confusion and fear as they walked me to the door and back out into the corridor.

The cell door slammed behind me and again I was grabbed by the arms and marched back towards the door out of this hell. I briefly wondered if they had decided that I was too calm and wanted to take me to the 'special' place that they had described. The panic was building in my chest and I was sure that they could hear my heart thundering in my chest because it was all that I could hear at the moment.

I decided that I was not going to let them see me unravel. I was going to be strong and I wasn't going to beg. I smoothed out my facial features and let a look of calm and indifference take the panic. I had gotten good at masking my emotions. No one would see the truth and no one ever did. Who needed Jasper?

They lead me to a small room with a mirror on one side of the wall, the walls painted a pale gray that was peeling around the ceiling. In the room there was a table with four chairs and what looked like a tape recorder. I tried not to roll my eyes at the lame Television set up, but alas I failed. It was an interrogation room. Now that I had thought about it, I wasn't even sure what I was being held for. They had not told me when I got here. All I knew was what Edward had told me. He had thrown me my cloths in a millisecond and then he was gone, promises of help on his lips as he vanished. Stupid beautiful annoying vampire.

I wondered if it ever accrued to him that he could have carried me out of there with him. I mean I know that I weigh a little bit more than I did when I was seventeen but what the hell?

I suppressed my giggles as the door opened and Detective Massri walked in the room. I was sure that in this situation my laughing wouldn't be received very well. Of course if I had to stay here any longer I might be one of the people down in the dungeon laugh at nothing just for something to do.

I decided to put in a good game. I put on my best concerned face with a trace of irritation and went to work. "Detective Massri, what is going on? I was dragged from my home and accosted in this awful place with no explanations." My voice shuddered a little and it wasn't an act.

He looked at me long and hard. He was in detective mode, not the kind man with bad news I had met a week ago. He studied me for a few long minutes, I wasn't sure what he found but he sat down heavily in front of me and produced a file that he laid in front of himself.

"Mrs. Daily, we have reason to believe that your husband was murdered." He said, again looking at my face.

I revealed nothing but shock. I knew that this was coming. In fact, I knew that it was a suspicion that day in the morgue. But this game had to be played.

"What." The mention of David's death did bring new tear to my eyes, that I let fall. "I thought… I thought you said it was a cave in. What… why…" I let my voice trail off and the tears fall faster from my eyes.

He sat there for a minute and studied me. He reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief. I wondered if it was the same one from the night at the morgue, and handed it to me. "Thank you" I sniffed.

"Mrs. Daily, your husband was dead before the cave in." He said. "The coroner confirmed it. We think that it was a planned hit."

"A planned hit? What the hell does that mean? We are not in Goodfellas, so please explain. And then explain what that has to do with me being here and treated like a criminal." I let my voice rise with hysteria.

"Calm down Mrs. Daily. Your husband…"

"David" I corrected. I was sick of him referring to David like he was my sole possession, an object.

"David," he conceded "was sending strange information back to the states. It was very hush-hush. It wouldn't get in depth with anyone what was going on here, just that the dig was enlightening. But we have yet to find his notes on the dig. They have disappeared."

I nodded for him to go on. "He told his mother..." I'm sure that the shock showed on my face when he mentioned David's mother. She and I had never been particularly close, so not only was I shocked that David had spoken with her, but I was shocked that the police in Egypt had spoken with her as well.

"You spoke with Mrs. Daily?" I asked.

He nodded. "That surprises you?" He looked interested in that piece of information. "She said that he seemed on edge and he kept saying that he was worried about you but wouldn't say why. Do you know why that might be?"

I did but it wasn't something that I was willing to share…ever. So I shook my head no.

"Well, she was under the impression that it was fear of you. That you might do something to him, to hurt him." There it was. David's mother had planted the seed to get me here. She had made them suspect me. I knew she didn't like me but to do this meant… God what a bitch.

"I'm… I'm…" what was I? Pissed? Yes. Hurt? Of course. Flabbergasted? That pretty much covered it.

"We have reason to think that you had your husband killed." My mouth fell open. These were police. Even Charlie, a small town cop from Forks would do more investigating then taking the word of a mourning mother. There had to be proof. Evidence. Then I remembered where I was and pushed that out of my mind. Foreign country equals no need for any of those things.

I was about to start raving about how absurd this whole thing was when a commotion out side of the door caught my attention. A muffled insult and a crash.

The door flew open, "and there's more where that came from." The most beautiful women in all the world was standing there in a red pant suit her hair in a loose bun and very smart looking glasses. Her make-up was flawless and her perfect body made my teeth hurt. I wasn't sure what she needed the glasses for, she had perfect sight.

She walked up to Detective Massri and stuck out her hand. It wasn't till that moment I noticed that he was sitting there with his mouth hanging open in aw of the women who looked like an angel that just entered the room. "Rosalie Hale, attorney at law."

Detective Massri shook her hand. He didn't even flinch at the cool skin. "I would like to have a word with my client, and you might have a word with that cow you call a guard, on people skills." She said without missing a beat.

The detective shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, Ms. Hale?" He made it a question like he was trying to be smooth to find out if she was single or not. I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"Mrs. Hale." She corrected.

He visibly looked disappointed. "Mrs. Hale then. I wasn't finished questioning the prisoner." He gestured to me. Well at least he knew I was still in the room.

"Oh I think you are." She said. "You see even in this country the _accused_…" she stressed the word. "Has the right to legal counsel. But since most of them can't afford it you all forget that. Plus in the fact that you have no proof as to the charges and have kept her here without provocation. If you do not prepare my clients affects with in the next hour for release I will be making a call the US embassy about the way she has been treated. You see my client bruises quite easily." She turned from him as if to dismiss him, smirking like the cat the caught the canary.

Detective Massri looked like he was about to say something but Rosalie spun around and the look that she gave him was enough to make his dead relatives cringe and he thought better of it. He stood up abruptly grabbed his file and stormed out of the room. Rosalie looked unaffected.

Less then an hour later I was walking to the door of what ever hellhole they had brought me too. The cow of a guard that Rose had referred to sneered at me while I collected the last of my affects, but I smirked at her. "Its okay why don't you go to that special place where the male guard visit often. I'm sure you are female somewhere." I giggled at her shocked face and walked away.

It was night again. I found that I had been there almost a full twenty four hours. The longest in my life. Well almost. I was anxious to see Edward. I thought about how he might react about last nights evens. Was he regretting it? Was he going to stay as far from me as possible now? My stomach twisted into knots at the thought. I begged what ever deity there was in the world that Edward would not over react, and bit my lip to stop the tears of fear from falling from my eyes.

Parked right in front of the building was a black limo, and Rose was standing by the open door. I smiled at her as I walked door the steps. "Rosalie Hale, diva extraordinaire." I said giggling.

She smiled at me. I stopped in my tacks and looked at her. I think it was the first honest smile I had ever gotten from her. "Is there any way else to be?" She shrugged.

I walked to her and threw my arms around her. This was the closest I had ever been to her in my life. She was scary but I was glad that she was on my side. "Thank you Rose for getting me out of there." I whispered.

She was statue still for a minute and she stopped breathing. I wasn't sure how she would react to this type of gratitude from me. Then like Claymation she came to life. She wrapped her arms around me in return. "Your welcome Bella, and I'm sorry."

She didn't have to say why. I think she was apologizing for the way she treated me before all those years ago and the loss of my husband at the same time. I was half temped to dismiss her apology but I thought better of it. I had a feeling she didn't give them openly. I nodded in response.

"Now…" she said pulling away from me, "Lets go get some things from your apartment. You're staying with us, for the duration."

I tumbled into the limo while Rosalie glided in without even thinking about it. The duration? The duration of what? I only had one guess. The duration of this process with the police. I could only stay with them until I was proven innocent. Then I would be on my own, again.

I didn't want to dwell on that, I had them for as long as I had them. I would respect their wishes after this was over. I would be grateful for there help. And for the rest of my life I would know that they were real and not the ghosts of my dreams. Would that be enough for me? No, but they would never know the wiser.

"So.." I turned to Rosalie. "How long have you been an attorney?" I was truly curious. She looked the part but as I had been told they matriculate a lot. I wondered if this was a new passion.

Rosalie looked up and smiled. "Twice. Once in the seventies and here recently. Last time I specialized in domestic affairs, this time I went foreign. Emmett needs representation from time to time and we are not always in the states." She laughed at the antics of her husband, and I couldn't help but join.

Emmett was known to do things that he perceived as fun not thinking about the implements of the law first. I could imagine Rose got her full use of the education as soon as she got it.

"But there was the one time that I had to get Jasper and Edward off of charges." She continued. I couldn't help the shock that covered my face. "Of course Emmett had everything to do with those too, but he didn't get caught." She shrugged. "They should have known better."

I was seeing a new side of Rosalie. She was kind and funny. She was unlike the person that I had met seven years ago. I thought about that. I guess through all the years her resentment towards me had given me no hope that she was any different. At the time Rose had not given me a chance, but I wasn't much better. I let her anger towards the situation cloud my judgment of her. I made no effort to even get to know her. I avoided her as much as she avoided me. In fact as I thought back there wasn't a time that I pushed anyone for her likes and dislikes, or her interests. We both dropped the ball and it was unfortunate.

"Rose, thanks for springing me." I said simply.

"You're welcome, you're family." She said it so simply, like it was public knowledge. I kept my face pleasant but I didn't think she realized how her words had touched my heart. She had accepted me, and now I was complete within myself. I hadn't realized how much that would have meant to me.

When we arrived at my apartment and for the first time I looked at it and realized that this wasn't my home. This was one of the many shelters that had housed me while my angel was away. Edward was my home. Where ever he was that where I wanted to be.

We made our way up the stairs to my apartment. The door was open and Alice was bouncing in the frame waiting for me. "Hey jailbird haw was your trip up river?" she asked with a smile playing on her lips. "Jasper, lock up all the silver." She called behind her.

From in the apartment I heard Jasper, "it's her apartment Darlin'. If she wants to steal it she can."

Alice musical laughter was beautiful to my ears. "Let's get you packed."

I walked in the door and I saw what I had been waiting for. Edward stood in the middle of the living room looking like vampire sex. I stopped in my tracks just taking him in. How had I been so lucky to have him?

I looked over to my left and saw three bags sitting by the door. I smiled slightly. "I'm done packing Alice." I called behind me. Her laughter was the only response.

In two strides Edward had me wrapped in his arms and I sighed in content. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Bella." He whispered into my hair.

I shook my head in response. "It's not your fault Edward. I'm fine. I love you." I felt him smile into my hair. "Are you ready to go?" I asked.

He nodded and grabbed my hand. When we made our way to the door I noticed something behind the door. I stopped Edward to retrieve it. It was the package that David a received the day I found out that he died. I had forgotten all about it. I placed it under my arm and smiled at Edward to continue.

The bags were already in the limo and Jasper Alice and rose were waiting for us. Something occurred to me. "Edward what did you get arrested for that Rose had to represent you?"

He looked startled and chagrinned at my question, but before he answered Alice screamed from the limo. "EDWARD!"

At that same instant Edward had me on the ground underneath him, and the windows that faced the street. The windows that were once part of my apartment blew out in a rain of glass wood and fire.

Someone had just tried to kill me.


	5. Aftermath

**Hey guys, I know that it has been a while since I updated this story. For those of you that were wondering. In January I had my friends baby, a boy that weighted two pound one ounce. Now he is sixteen pounds and very healthy. Thank you for all of your prayers and kind comments. **

**I've decided to go ahead and try and get this story on the roll. I hope you all like the next installment. **

**I don't own it.**

**Chapter 5: Aftermath**

In the movies, an explosion is loud and violent. You sit and watch in awe and rapt attention as the destruction passes across the screen. The destruction is always followed by chaos and a bunch of mini explosions that the main character has the fortune of getting away from just in time while all around them people are killed and thrown like rag dolls all over the place.

This explosion was short lived and even though the destruction was just as complete. Glass, wood and other debris rained down on the four of us as Edward shielded my body from most of the carnage. The loud boom reverberated through my body and shook my head so hard that my teeth felt like they might break.

I couldn't see the others from the position that I was in. Edward had me pinned on the far side of the limo and had braced himself just underneath it. I was sure that Rose had been inside but Jasper and Alice had been placing my bags in the back when the explosion happened.

Fear gripped me, and I couldn't tell if it was my heart or the remnants of the explosion, but My family was unaccounted for. The pressure of Edward's body held me still and prevented me from taking inventory of the others.

"Edward, Alice and Jasper…" I choked off a strangled sob as the possibilities assaulted me.

"They're fine. We need to get you out of here." He said lifting the limo just high enough for me to scramble out from under him, and for him to stand up right. Still he held on to my arm effectively keeping me close to him.

I looked around and got the full impact of what had happened. Cars were on their sides, people were coming out of alleyways and other place where they had sought cover. My eyes traveled slowly around me and finally I found Rosalie and Alice not far from where we had been. Jasper was on the other side of the street coming from behind a small wall that lead to a entry way of another apartment building.

"Go!" Edward hissed in Jasper's direction. It was then that I noticed that he had been holding his breath and walking very stiffly. Again I looked around and saw what his vampire senses had. All around us people were injured and breeding. He was struggling with the bloodlust and I couldn't help but think about my fatal birthday party.

I wiped the memory away before it had a chance to cripple me. "Jasper please go, it's okay. The emotion around here can't be easy." I intentionally didn't mention the blood. He had enough to deal with and being a weak link in the Cullen chain was always going to be difficult for him. I was not going to be the one to throw it into his face.

He looked at me gratefully before he turned and disappeared into the now crowded streets, I assumed to head back to the house. I turned to Edward, "Should we call someone? There are a lot of people hurt."

Edward was looking directly at Alice. Fire burned in his eyes and I felt myself shrink back at the malice there. Alice too wore the same look as they had a silent conversation. He noticed my fear before he rearranged his features and looked down at me. "No we need to get you out of here. Any help that might come might not be help for you. There is somebody trying to kill you."

Alice was by my side in an instant. "I'll take her Edward. See what you can find out and come home." With a nod Edward walked in the opposite direction that Jasper had gone and blended himself into the crowd. I would never have thought it possible for him to make himself invisible. Edward had always stuck out to me but he disappeared.

Alice grabbed my hand, "Let's go."

I was at a loss, what was happening? Why wasn't he going with us? "He has the ability to find out if there is anyone around that knows how and who did this. As long as you are safe and away he should get something." Alice said answering my questions before I could ask them.

Something else occurred to me, "Alice why didn't you see this coming?" The question wasn't an accusation. I knew that Alice wasn't infallible, but I had that knowledge from first experience.

"The decision hadn't been made until seconds before the bomb went off. Whoever set it off was fighting with their decision until the last possible minute." More for her she added, "I hope."

Rose moved with us more quietly than I had ever known her to be. Her hair was mussed and still she was beautiful but there was something else there. Something in her eyes that I had never seen before. It was fear. She looked around the people that we passed without moving her head scanning the crowd for possible danger. She was scared not for herself but for me. I could only imagine what had gone through her head as the bomb had exploded.

Gently I reached out and touched her arm. "Rose are you okay?"

The question seemed to shake her, and her eyes met mine. "No." that was the only thing that I got from her and I didn't want to press her. If she wanted to tell me she would have and there was no way to pry it out of her.

Before I knew what was going on we were in a taxi speeding towards a unknown location, but my mind was going just as fast as the vehicle that we were in. Edward had said that someone was trying to kill me and in truth that scared me less than it should have.

It had been a very long time since I had been in true danger, but I was accustomed to it. From the incident with James to the constant interference of Victoria I had grown up with the type of danger that would cripple a person.

What scared me was the fact that my danger had once again fallen upon the Cullen family and they once again were putting their lives on the line to help me to survive. But that fact made me feel a little happy and guilty at the same time.

My danger had not only put them in the front line but had also brought them all back to me. I couldn't even fathom what something like that meant. If I was being honest with myself, that selfishness would hopefully keep them close for the rest of my life if I was lucky enough to survive this.

Another thought made me wince. Had my ability to attract danger into my life also cost the lives of David and Stan? Was it the point that I had had years of good luck that it spill over and had killed others. I couldn't help the tears that brimmed my eyes. I fought them. I wasn't that sniveling Bella anymore. Instead of the self pity I let myself get angry.

This wasn't my fault. Yes I was in danger and yes people were fighting for my safety, but that just meant that my life was worth something. I was sitting in a car racing to safety with protectors all around me. What I really wanted to do was find out what was really going on.

My fingers were starting to hurt and looked down at my hands. I hadn't realized that I had the package I had received yesterday. The brown paper was ripped and dirty, scuffed from the blast and quick cover. Under the paper, there was a book that looked like it had been flipped through repeatedly.

I grabbed hold of one of the ripped edges and tore it open. I couldn't help the surprised gasp that erupted from my throat at the contents. "What is it Bella?" Rose asked being started from my sudden exclamation.

She had been looking out the window of the cab lost in her own thoughts. I looked over at Alice and she had a knowing look in her eyes. "It's David's journal." I said.

David wrote down all of his finds in this journal. It was a running joke with us that he would leave his head at home but his journal would always be at his side. I ran my hand over the worn cover and turned it over, examining the book that held the life of a man that was as brilliant as he was strong.

Taped to the underside of the book was an envelope. Across it in neat script was Isa Daily. I removed it and carefully opened it to see a short letter written in David's handwriting.

_Isa,_

_I'm writing this because at this point I think that you are the only person that I can trust. There are some weird things going on at the sight. Strange people are coming around asking questions and accidents that I have been very careful to hide from you._

_My journal has all that I have uncovered and it is possible that you will believe none of it but the truth is scarier than fantasy, Isa. I tried to keep you out of this as long as possible but I fear that my life is in danger. As much as I hate it I must ask you to keep this safe, my darling._

_I think that even though I hide this from you, you are already in danger by association. My life is not important to me but, the crime of your murder would be heinous. _

_I met a man today that was more than a man. His name was Anthony and he said that he knew you. You will understand when you read the journal. The only way to protect you is for you to discover what I could not. Find out what happened in the past and use it to help yourself._

_I love you Isa. You have always been a light in a tunnel for me. I know now that there was a reason that you held yourself from me, I will never blame you for it, because even though you did the love that you showed me was enough for a lifetime. _

_If this letter reaches you and I do not just do one simple thing for me…Be safe._

_Love,_

_David_

By the end of the letter my hands shook, and I could barely see the last words in it. He knew that he was in danger and instead of getting help for himself he was worried about me.

Alice wrapped her arm around me and I slumped into her letting the grief over come me. She knew about the letter, she knew when I would read it and that was why she grabbed it on the way out of the house.

We spent the rest of the way to the Cullen house in silence as I cried and wished I had known some way to help him in his last moments. I tried to remember if I had told him that I loved him the last time I had talked to him, but the memories would not come. I tried to remember if he had been acting differently at anytime, still the memories wouldn't come.

By the time we arrived I was set in my resolve to do as he had asked. I would find out what was being hidden and figure out why in the world this information was so important.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

I didn't notice the house when the car came around a bending drive. The first thing that I noticed was the beautiful caramel hair vampire that stood in the door way with excitement and worry written all over her face. Behind her stood another equally beautiful vampire with blonde almost silver hair standing with his hands wrapped around her with a look of amusement gracing his features.

Carlisle and Esme were just as I had remembered them. I couldn't control myself when I stepped out of the taxi and went running into the waiting outstretched arms of Esme. She wrapped me in her cool embrace and hugged me as tight as she dared just stroking my hair like a caring mother would do.

We stood there for a long while before someone cleared their throat and I realized that Esme had met me half way to the car. Carlisle stood a good ten feet away from us, "Do you mind sharing the human, dear." He chuckled at his joke and walked over to embrace me in his own hug.

The whole family had come for me. The thought of it was over whelming and I felt the earth beneath me begin to give way. I heard Alice call to Carlisle before the world went black and I gave in to the darkness that came from the exertion that I hadn't known that I was battling.


	6. Dangerous Thoughts

**Hey all. Well, there has been a debate that the last chapter was just a teaser, not naming names ( but I do owe you a call). Well here is another chapter for you all, so that you all know that I am back in the swing of things. Sort of.**

**I don't own it.**

**Chapter 6: Dangerous Thoughts**

Sounds drifted slowly around me as I fought my way back to consciousness. A cool hand rested against my forehead and for a split second I was calmed beyond belief before the events before my fainting came rushing back to me.

I groaned and brought my hand up to my face to cover my embarrassed blush. "You know it has been too long since I've seen you beautiful face and now you want to cover it?" I looked up to see his shaking his head in amused disgust. "Shame, truly despicable."

I couldn't help the giggle that left my throat at his theatrics. It was then that I noticed something about Edward. There was something different about him that I couldn't put my finger on at first. Then it came to me. He wasn't brooding, or apologizing to me.

We were just nearly blown to bits, (well I was anyways,) and he was here making jokes and acting as though we were back in Forks. I could easily let my mind wonder back were my life was just him and the love that I felt envelope us both when in our meadow.

"Thank you." I told him with all honesty that I could muster. "I was worrying about what the family would think of my fainting act." I started to sit up but his hands were suddenly on my shoulders pushing me back down to the mattress. I started to protest when I saw the look of his eyes.

His pupils were dilated to a point when I could barely see a light ring of gold around them. His face held a unmistakable hunger and for once it wasn't my blood that called to him.

I could feel his cool breath wash across my face and couldn't help but inhale the sweetness of it, that made a moan escape my throat without thought. He smelled so good still. Like sunshine and honey. A smell that haunted and comforted me for years after he left.

My hand were suddenly in his hair running the soft strands through my fingers over and over again, committing each pass to a memory that I knew was faulty. Wishing for a way to keep this moment trapped or to stay here just like this for as long as was possible.

The look on his face told me different. Still black and hungry there was an hardness and determination there in his eyes. I watched as the took in every inch of skin that was visible to them, and even though I still had all my cloths on I felt naked and exposed to him that moment. "You are a woman now." It was a statement and not a question so I waited. "I have envisioned you like this so many times before. You were always beautiful, but know you sexy, sensual, and irresistible."

He said the last with a growl that went straight from his lips to my ears to my core. I could feel a heat sweep through me and body reacted accordingly. I hadn't realized that I was whimpering from the strain of my swollen clit until he grabbed my hips that were shamelessly rubbing against his thigh in order to ease the ache.

"Edward… Please…" He seemed to know what I needed and his lips were on mine in an instant. The sweetness of his lips caused a new round of wetness to pool between my legs, and when his tongue snaked out to lick my lower lips I swear that I had a minigasm right then.

"So responsive." He whispered more to himself while slowly grinding his hard member into me, resulting in my surprised gasp. Edward had never been so forward before. Even when we were in my apartment before. There was nothing holding him back and in my mind there should have been. There were alarm bells going off inside my head and as his lips traveled down my throat and he opened my shirt with his mouth I couldn't find it in me to care about what my mind was telling. I let my body feel it all.

I began to shake with my need. His mouth easily found my nipples and with what I could only think of as a perfected art he swirled them with his tongue, paying equal attention to both. Again my mouth opened and a loud guttural moan, that was arousing and embarrassing at the same time.

"Shh, sweetheart, you have to keep quiet." His eyes darted to the door , and then met mine, before he resumes his path down my stomach. He nibbled and lick a trail down my torso with abandon, my muscles fluttering in anticipation.

I reached down and pulled up his shirt and even though I had a hard time because my eyes kept fluttering closed I pulled it over his head and he let his arms through. From the angle that I was laying I watched as his muscles bunched and released light tightly wound coil. He was like a large cat with the way he moved an wrapped his self around my body to make me make the most erotic noises I had ever made.

I unbuckled his pants with my toes and pushed the zipper down with a dexterity that I never knew that I possessed. His pants slide down his smooth legs with little resistance, and elation filled me as I felt his member spring forward and rub unabashed on my leg.

Still in the back of my mind something was off. Still there was something warning me to slow down, something was wrong. But my mind and body were not on the same page.

He sat up and pulled at my jeans, in the process giving me a perfect view of his body. As I stared I looked up and watched him watching me. "You like what you see?" He asked raising an eyebrow, before turning to throw my pants and panties on the floor behind him.

It was then that I saw a flash of dark against the skin of his right shoulder. Before I had a chance to register it he was back in my arms, muddled by the passion of his kisses.

"Wait here sweetheart I'll be right back." He started to get up and then stopped, chuckling darkly, "Don't move an inch, when we mean again, I'm going to each you all up." He smirked at my heart thudding loudly in my chest at his promise. Slowly he backed up towards the bathroom never breaking eye contact until he closed the door after him.

Just as soon as the door closed but a door on the opposite of the room opened and Alice, Jasper, and Emmitt bust into the room. For a second I just stared at them and at the same time they all stared at me, a look of shock written on all of our faces. That was until Emmitt got a huge grin on his face and opened his mouth.

"You say one word and I hide your tongue so it takes months for Rose to find it later." Alice interjected before he could say anything that could embarrass me further, before pushing both men out of the door and slamming it.

It was then that I realized that I was just laying there shirt and bra laying open. My legs and intimate parts lay bare. I flushed so hard I thought that I was going to pass out from shear embarrassment. I grabbed the blanket and wrapped around myself tightly, but still my initial shock cost me. I could hear Emmitt's booming laugh carry from somewhere in the house.

"What is it you thought you were doing?" Alice said placing her tiny fists on her hips. "I mean I'm all about self pleasure but really?"

My eyes narrowed, and my eyes narrowed in anger instead of embarrassment. "I'll have you know that I was being pleasured from your brother." I hissed.

Alice looked at me with doubt on her face, "Whatever you say to make your orgasm harder."

My mouth fell open at her disbelief. Also I felt a little hurt. Why couldn't I be up with Edward enjoying each other? I huff and slid off the bed that I didn't realize was very high, tweaking my ankle a bit.

I ignored my pain and limped over to the bathroom door. "Edward, can you please come out here?" I knocked. I waited for a reply but when I got one it wasn't from the direction I had thought it would come from.

Down stairs I heard a slam and the sound of glass breaking. "Damn it Emmitt, stop picturing her like that." Edward's voice was loud and angry and I slowly turned towards the bedroom door.

"It's not my fault that your girl is undersexed. You should do something about that." Emmitt yell in retort.

Before I knew what was happening Edward was standing in the door looking beautiful and scary in his rage. "What is going on?" His nostril flared and his shoulders were heaving. Then like someone had flipped a switch and he became stone still.

I took inventory of him. He still had on the clothes from earlier. His hair was windswept. I turned slightly towards the door that was still closed to the bathroom, and back to Edward. "Edward, how did you get there?" Still my mind did not want to admit that something was amiss. "And why did you put those clothes on." I couldn't help the whine that came to my voice. Clothed Edward was nice but naked Edward was way more fun.

"Alice do you smell it?" He didn't even look my way, his voice sharp like a sword.

Alice stood still and took a big breath through her nose. I could feel my face heating up at what she might be smelling. God why in the hell did this have to be happening. "It's faint, I can barely smell it around her." She finally said.

"Her, is standing right here." I said in a huff almost losing the sheet that was wrapped around me. "I want to know what the hell is going on."

Edward looked at me and there it was. What was missing that had my alarm bells ringing. The love that let me into his soul. The love that could melt me at a drop. He walked slowly to me and placed both of his hand to cup my cheeks. "Bella Love, what happened here? I need to know." He said.

I looked at Alice and then at him. Did he want me to recount what we just did right in front of Alice? "It's okay Love."

"Well I woke up and you were here. We… Well we… it was getting hot and heavy… then you went to the bathroom." Something else occurred to me. I was so excited about having Edward that I missed something else that was missing. The spark, the electric hum that was now radiating through my body from him just touching me.

I must have looked like a fish standing there in front of him with my mouth opening and closing as my mind finally grasped what was wrong. "Edward…" I whisper, "Do you have a tattoo on you right shoulder?"

Edward gave his back to me and raised his shirt. His skin was pain and flawless with nothing marring it in anyway. Of course he didn't have a tattoo, it was frowned upon back when he was human. That should have register.

I sank to the floor and Edward followed. "Alice…" he hissed as he pointed to the bathroom door. She was there in back in a second flat.

"What does it say?" He growled. I looked up to find her holding a white piece of paper, a note. She shook her head and handed it to him before leaving the room. I faintly heard her sobbing to someone I guessed was Jasper about not seeing this.

Edward open the note and we both stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. "Edward, what the hell is going on?" My voice was a lot stronger then I felt.

"I don't know Love, but we need to figure it out." He lifted me and lead my to the closet to get some clothes but I turned just to see the the five words that were forever burned into my memory.

"_She thought I was you!"_


End file.
